Around 150,000 Norwegians don’t have a GP: “Immediate action necessary”

There is a need for more immediate measures to ensure a good GP offer in Norway, the Norwegian Directorate of Health stated in a recent report. Health director Bjørn Guldvog is worried.

Around 150,000 Norwegians don’t have a GP today. Recruitment is one of the key problems.

“I am worried about this, and the concern has increased in the last couple of years. So it is important that we manage to prioritize this in the health service today,” Guldvog told TV 2.

“When many people do not have a GP, we’re worried that the social inequalities in health in Norway can become greater,” he added.

The latest quarterly report from the Norwegian Directorate of Health on the follow-up of the Action Plan for the General Practitioner Service states that the current action plan’s measures, frameworks, and tools are not sufficient to solve the challenges.

Immediate action necessary

“There is a need for further immediate measures with immediate effect and strengthened efforts also in the longer term,” the report warned. 

The Norwegian Medical Association has previously said that NOK 2.3 billion is needed to solve the GP crisis in Norway. 

Minister of Health and Care Services Ingvild Kjerkol (AP) believes that the challenges are complex and that increasing the allocations in the existing action plan will not be enough.

TV 2 states that Kjerkol did not want to say whether there will be money for the GP scheme in the revised national budget, which will be presented in May.

Source: © NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today / #NorwayTodayNews

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